Jefferies Equity Strategist Steven DeSanctis said that in terms of its SMID-cap sector strategy the firm is moving to an Overweight on Technology, citing Tech's "very strong" earnings season, reasonable valuations in the group and expectations for the recent M&A trend to continue. Also, the firm is moving Real Estate to Market Weight from Overweight, citing the belief that investors are shifting their preference towards growth and away from yield.

Oppenheimer analyst Shaul Eyal is not surprised to see the list of potential Imperva (IMPV) buyer candidates mentioned in an article from Bloomberg, which includes Cisco (CSCO), IBM (IBM), Fortinet (FTNT), Akamai (AKAM), and privately held Forcepoint. The analyst envisions Imperva's product line aligning particularly well with Cisco's and IBM's given the recent drive by both to expand their security offerings. Eyal sees a potential price target ranging between $55-$60 if the speculation has any merit and sufficient interest from multiple bidders. Oppenheimer has an Outperform rating on Imperva's shares.

09/14/16

DBAB

09/14/16NO CHANGETarget $37DBABBuy

Cisco price target raised to $37 from $35 at Deutsche Bank

Deutsche Bank analyst Vijay Bhagavath raised his price target for Cisco Systems to $37 from $35 after hosting the company at his firm's tech conference. The analyst sees "modestly improving demand trends" in cloud scale data center build outs and believes the company's October quarter guidance is de-risked. Bhagavath reiterates a Buy rating on Cisco.

10/10/16

UBSW

10/10/16NO CHANGETarget $35UBSWBuy

Consensus may be underestimating Cisco security growth, says UBS

UBS analyst Steven Milunovich said Cisco needs to grow its security business by double digits for the stock to outperform. He believes the company can do that and sees the Street underestimating its ability in security, citing the company's opportunity to leverage its network dominance and differentiate by providing a unified offering versus competitors' piecemeal parts. Milunovich reiterated his Buy rating and $35 price target on Cisco shares.

After meeting with Palo Alto Networks (PANW) management, Imperial Capital analyst Michael Kim noted that they highlighted their strong win rates when customers conduct head-to-head evaluations. Kim, who believes the company is gaining share in the network security market at the cost of Cisco (CSCO) and Check Point (CHKP), keeps an Outperform rating and $190 price target on Palo Alto shares.

SSprint

09/12/16

DBAB

09/12/16DOWNGRADEDBABHold

SoftBank downgraded to Hold from Buy at Deutsche Bank

Deutsche Bank analyst Peter Milliken downgraded Softbank (SFTBY) to Hold saying the company's rebuilding efforts should take time. The analyst expects the stock to trade largely in line with Alibaba (BABA), Sprint (S) and the yen over the next 12 months, and he feels much of the upside has already been realized in the first two.

Credit Suisse analyst Kulbinder Garcha said that build plans noted by the firm's tech team in Japan, the firm's proprietary iPhone survey and recent announcements from Sprint (S) and T-Mobile (TMUS) all lead him to now believe that Apple's (AAPL) iPhone 7 cycle may be stronger than anticipated. Accordingly, Garcha increased his calendar year 2016 iPhone volume estimate to 215M from 208M and took his calendar year 2017 estimate up to 221M units from 217M units. Additionally, two recent surveys conducted by the firm point to a potential beneficial mix shift, as more buyers appear to be shifting toward the Plus model compared to the mix in the iPhone 6s cycle, Garcha tells investors. The analyst reiterates an Outperform rating and $150 price target on Apple shares, which closed yesterday at $111.77.

09/20/16

PIPR

09/20/16NO CHANGEPIPROverweight

Piper survey shows decline in iPhone upgrade interest

Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster says his firm's survey of 403 U.S. iPhone owners suggests that interest in an iPhone 7 upgrade declined after the announcement of the device. The data contradicts "generally positive" initial demand indicators including from carriers including T-Mobile (TMUS) and Sprint (S), Munster tells investors in a research note. The analyst questions iPhone 7 demand into Apple's (AAPL) March and June quarters but remains confident in his thinking for flattish growth for iPhone 7 versus iPhone 6. Munster reiterates an Overweight rating on Apple.

09/13/16

WELS

09/13/16NO CHANGEWELSMarket Perform

Apple iPhone 7 strength consistent with view, says Wells Fargo

Wells Fargo analyst Maynard Um says the iPhone 7 pre-order strength announced by T-Mobile (TMUS) and Sprint (S) is consistent with his view that "aggressive carrier promotions" should help to drive sales of the next generation phone. Um still expects Apple's multiple expansion to be limited given the "limited visibility and some concern into the March quarter." The analyst keeps a Market Perform rating on Apple shares with a $105-$120 price target range.

JPMorgan analyst Rodolfo Angele upgrade Vale to Overweight saying he now expects the company to post positive free cash flow in 2017 and beyond amid more supportive iron ore prices. The analyst raised his price target for the shares to $7 from $5.

Oppenheimer analyst Timothy Horan notes that machine learning and artificial intelligence have been use to improve applications and acceleration of infrastructure builds, with "intelligent software" designed to make lives easier and more productive. Further, the analyst sees communications and cloud services continuing to converge, with infrastructure and data as key components to AI. Microsoft (MSFT) and Amazon (AMZN) Web Service are well positioned to enable these trends, he contends, adding that he see colocation providers, such as Equinix (EQIX) and Interxion (INXN), and networking companies like Zayo Group (ZAYO) GTT Communications (GTT) as beneficiaries.

09/26/16

CANT

09/26/16NO CHANGETarget $42CANTBuy

Yelp takeout chances increased with share conversion, says Cantor

Yelp's (YELP) conversion of Class B super-voting shares into regular Class A shares late last week increases the company's takeout potential, Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Youssef Squali tells investors in a research note. Yelp, especially following recent improvements in the underlying growth fundamentals of the business, has become "an easier, and more likely" acquisition target, the analyst contends. The analyst views Facebook (FB), Priceline (PCLN), TripAdvisor (TRIP) and Microsoft (MSFT) as potential acquirers of Yelp. Squali estimates Yelp could be worth $53 per share in a takeout. He keeps a Buy rating on the stock with a $42 price target. The stock is up 2% to $40.35 in early trading.

09/23/16

RHCO

09/23/16NO CHANGERHCOBuy

SunTrust says Twitter would help Salesforce deal with Microsoft

SunTrust analyst John Rizzuto believes a potential acquisition of Twitter (TWTR) could give Salesforce (CRM) a "strong external social platform" that can enhance its ecosystem while addressing the longer-term threat from Microsoft (MSFT). With less than $2B of cash on hand, Salesforce would need to raise much of the required capital as equity with a smaller debt component, Rizzuto tells investors in a research note. The analyst remains positive on Salesforce shares with a Buy rating. CNBC's David Faber reported earlier today that Twitter is getting closer to a sale and he named Salesforce as one of the potential suitors. Salesforce is down 5% to $70.69 while Twitter is up 19% to $22.12 in afternoon trading.

10/12/16

WELS

10/12/16NO CHANGEWELSMarket Perform

Wells doesn't see Apple as biggest beneficiary from Samsung issues

Wells Fargo analyst Maynard Um attributes the recent rally in shares of Apple (AAPL), at least in part, to Samsung's (SSNLF) issues with its Note 7 phones. Apple gained an incremental $14B in market capitalization at its intraday peak, which the analyst believes embeds more than 3M of incremental iPhone 7 Plus units. Samsung's production halt will help Apple, but other Android vendors with 5.7 inch phones could see a bigger benefit if Android users prefer to stick with Android, Um tells investors in a research note. He points out that LG, Kyocera, and Microsoft (MFST) have 5.7 inch Android phones at U.S. carriers. Um thinks expectations for Apple into earnings "have risen materially." He keeps a Market Perform rating on the iPhone maker. Apple closed yesterday up 25c to $116.30.

UP AFTER EARNINGS: Cintas (CTAS), up 2.9%... Micron (MU), up 2.8%. ALSO HIGHER: Editas Medicine (EDIT), up 3.1% after it received the EMA's orphan medicinal product designation for EDIT-101... Twitter (TWTR), up 1.8% after it said it will start testing longer, 280-character tweets with a small group. DOWN AFTER EARNINGS: Nike (NKE), down 3.2%. ALSO LOWER: Kornit Digital (KRNT), down 12.2% after it cut its third quarter revenue guidance... Westlake Chemical Partners (WLKP), down 8.3% after it filed to sell 4.5M units for limited partners... Intra-Cellular (ITCI), down 7.2% after it filed to sell $150M in common stock... Ascendis Pharma (ASND), down 4.3% after it announced an offering of $125M of ADSs.